Why 2013's Superhero Movies Have a Lot to Prove

Superman and Wolverine might have a steep mountain to climb.

By IGN Staff

For superhero movies, 2012 was a year championed by culminations. The release of Marvel’s The Avengers brought Phase 1 of Marvel’s movie plans to a head and in turn created the standout box-office success of the year. The conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s Batman saga, The Dark Knight Rises, similarly brought the better half of a decade of Batman to a close. There was some new stuff in there that sort of got lost in the shuffle – The Amazing Spider-Man did well enough but nowhere near Avengers or Batman money. John Carter disappointed financially. Most depressingly, Dredd tanked miserably.

While 2012 could be considered the pinnacle of the last decade of comic book movies – perhaps both financially and creatively – it’s 2013 that will give way to the next phase of the comic adaptation phenomenon. There are plenty of familiar comic book characters returning to the big screen this summer, but most have a great deal to prove, and I’m beyond excited to see what this year can offer in the way of rebuilding previously powerful franchises to their former glory.

Right off the bat, Iron Man 3 – though it will no doubt be aided by The Avengers – has got some work cut out for it. Iron Man 2 wasn’t most fans’ cup of tea, and it remains to be seen if the character can bounce back from that misstep into an all-new solo adventure that will be free of any Avengers crossover. Thankfully, having Shane Black behind the movie is automatic reassurance. Thor 2 is in a similar spot, but for different reasons.

Though both have to contend with competing with The Avengers in terms of escalation – a solo movie probably means a smaller scale when compared to the epic-ness of Avengers – Thor has the unfortunate narrative challenge of explaining why we should care about these individual movies at all. What I mean is: Avengers basically told us that the original Thor’s ending was immaterial. If that’s the case, Thor 2 will have to work doubly hard to make us care about anything that happens to the character; especially his relationship to Jane. Avengers made it clear that it’s not going to be the movie series for character development, so if we can’t get that in the solo movies either, I’m afraid Marvel will have lost me.

One real wildcard at this point, though not technically a comic book character, is The Lone Ranger. Lone Ranger was a radio pulp hero, which comic book heroes are an extension of, to some degree. Disney is still looking to expand that “boys” brand that isn’t Marvel (or Star Wars, I guess, at this point) by creating some new franchises of its own, especially after the unfortunate underperformance of the mostly awesome John Carter. Reuniting original Pirates of the Caribbean guru Gore Verbinski and reliable A-lister Johnny Depp for a Lone Ranger adventure sounds like a sure-fire success, but I’m curious to see if modern audiences are keen for a pulp-era hero. I, for one, hope it makes a nice chunk of change, if only to fast-track the return of the Rocketeer, another pulp-style hero that Disney has the rights to.

Of course, the two biggest summer movies that have the most working against them are Man of Steel and The Wolverine, mostly because the last iterations of these characters on screen were almost universally reviled. I personally like Superman Returns quite a bit (the reasons for which can be found in my flurry of fever-induced tweets as I watched the movie last weekend), but it’s obvious I’m in the minority. But it’s not just Returns’ fault, either; the divisive opinions of both Zack Snyder as a filmmaker and The Dark Knight Rises could be a factor that works against Man of Steel upon its release. All of those elements combined could prove disastrous for the new Superman flick, though if they keep releasing trailers as awesome as the last – and making sure they are all up in everyone’s faces with them – it’s certainly got a fighting chance.

As for The Wolverine, well… I still haven’t seen more than 20 minutes of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I just haven’t. In fact, I’m going to make it a big event to watch it at some point closer to The Wolverine’s release. That said, it’s clear to me that most people hate it. It doesn’t help that people hate X3, too. And that the X-Men movie that people haven’t taken to hating yet (keyword: yet) is First Class, which features no Wolverine, save for an insignificant cameo. However, much like Iron Man 3, I think the addition of a new filmmaker is going to be a reinvigoration for the franchise. Additionally, the success of First Class could prove to be a boon to The Wolverine as well – plus I think it’s a good choice to remove “X” from the film’s title at all.

If 2012 was a year of climaxes, 2013 is, hopefully, a year of new beginnings. Renewed franchises for once powerful characters that will hopefully lead to even more fresh properties. It will be interesting to watch, particularly as we head into truly untested waters of things like Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man in the years to come. If these former titans of various mediums can regain their former money-making glory, they might just carve out a path for all-new endeavors in the years to come.